Corruption schemes in the Medical and Social Expert Commission (MSEC). Who benefits from the millions flowing for disability status

In Ukraine, there has been a significant increase in corruption scandals surrounding the Medical-Social Expert Commissions (MSEC). During searches of the homes of medical experts, law enforcement has found vast cash stashes in foreign currency, and MSEC members with modest salaries have been found to own expensive real estate, including property abroad, and businesses registered in the names of close relatives.

Here’s how the corruption schemes within MSEC operate.

Corruption in MSEC has always existed, but before the war, it mainly involved civilians. The main source of illegal income for MSEC members came from extending and confirming disability statuses for people who no longer qualified for them based on medical indicators. Disability status had to be renewed annually, and although the benefits and pensions for people with disabilities in all three groups were relatively low, meaning bribes were not significant before the war, the cost of confirming disability status ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 hryvnias.

However, the scale of bribes skyrocketed after the start of the mobilization effort. An assigned disability status provided a legal way to avoid conscription into the army.

According to police sources, after the war began, a sort of price list for assigning disability statuses to potential conscripts appeared in MSEC. Prices for disability statuses reportedly ranged from $8,000 to $10,000 for the first group, $7,000 to $8,000 for the second, and from $5,000 for the third. The amounts of the bribes varied by region, with the highest sums being charged in larger cities. Part of the bribe—between $500 and $1,000—went to intermediaries who found those willing to pay.

The most common illnesses used for false disability claims included neurological disorders, brain diseases, and musculoskeletal issues. However, fake disability statuses couldn’t be issued without the help of “collaborators”—trusted doctors in specialized state clinics and diagnostic centers, such as radiologists and MRI specialists, who provided the necessary diagnoses and medical documentation. Although the bribes had to be shared with these accomplices, the majority—up to 70% of the total amount—went to the MSEC members.

With the introduction of stricter mobilization laws, the cost of obtaining a disability status has surged, now ranging from $10,000 to $20,000.

Another major source of corruption for MSEC involves granting deferments from mobilization to relatives of disabled individuals who need care. MSEC holds the authority to determine whether a disabled person requires care and thus whether their relatives qualify for a deferment.

These decisions regarding civilians are outside the control of territorial recruitment centers and military medical commissions, representing separate financial streams. The bribes for securing deferments for relatives of disabled individuals are somewhat lower, ranging from $6,000 to $10,000. This scheme is relatively simple: in exchange for a bribe, a previously capable individual with a first or second group disability is reclassified as needing care. The disabled person then names someone willing to provide that care, and MSEC issues a document confirming this. Based on this document, the caregiver receives a deferment from the territorial recruitment center.

Overall, we are talking about massive corruption flows amounting to tens of millions of dollars, obtained by corrupt officials within MSEC, which operates under the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. According to a source within MSEC, a portion of these funds is passed up the chain to senior officials at the Ministry of Health.

As a result, the price of securing a position within MSEC has also skyrocketed since the war began—ranging from $20,000 for a commission member to as much as $100,000 for the head of an inter-district MSEC.